"That's what they gave me," Budzien said sheepishly. "As a kicker, it's kind of whatever's left."

OK, but Budzien now has leverage. He went 3-for-3 against Vanderbilt, and those boots from 40, 37 and 18 yards were the difference in the 23-13 victory until Kain Colter's late touchdown.

"I wore 4 in high school, but my girlfriend and mom already have 37 jerseys," Budzien said. "I don't have the money to change that."

Budzien is changing perceptions about his kicking. His performance last season left the impression that he was deadly from in close (50-for-50 in PATs, 5-for-6 inside 43 yards) but weak (1-for-4) from long range.

NU coach Pat Fitzgerald passed on a number of 40-plus kicks, plus some tries from 30-plus into the wind. As a result, Northwestern went for it on fourth down 28 times, twice as often as its opponents.

"Ten attempts, I didn't sign up to kick 10 field goals a year," Budzien said. "I was kicking more in high school. But that's how the cards fell, and I respected his decision.

"He said he didn't want to feed me to the herd in my first year. But this year, I'm ready for sure. I'm hitting it better than I ever have."

The redshirt sophomore added 5-7 yards on his range after, as Fitzgerald said, "he embraced the weight room. I'm really proud of him. His first swing of the year was from 40; it's not a chip shot. And it was right down the heart."

Said Budzien: "The kicker usually gets the glory or is the goat but (long-snapper Pat Hickey and holder BrandonWilliams) and the big uglies up front do their job and don't get the credit. They are very deserving."

Back to school: Northwestern has outdated facilities and rigorous admissions standards, but the program does have an enormous advantage on most of its competitors — the quarter system.

Fall classes do not begin until Sept. 20, allowing NU's players to live an NFL lifestyle (minus the fancy cars) for the first third of the season.

"It's a huge selling point in recruiting," Fitzgerald said. "Four games a year plus the bowl … so five times four, that's 20 games where they're not going to take a class. I promise you, our guys love it."

Northwestern still has to abide by the NCAA-mandated 20-hour rule, but there's no limit to how often the players can study film. Receiver Rashad Lawrence said the extra time allows him to break down tape with NU's quarterbacks and defensive backs.

"There's nothing really else to do but focus on football," he said.

Fitzgerald said that when he played at Northwestern, "I'd go back and watch 'Doogie Howser' and 'The Wonder Years.' Now they can play video games against each other on their phones."

Extra point: Defensive end Deonte Gibson (elbow) has returned to practice. … Fitzgerald clarified that he was not being cocky when he seemed to challenge Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers to "bring it" last week against his secondary: "I said we knew they were going to bring it. So you guys chose accordingly. That's OK. I like you guys (anyway)." … That said, he does expect Boston College to "bring it" Saturday. The Eagles in two games have attempted 84 passes, which ranks 19th nationally. "They are throwing the ball all over the yard," Fitzgerald said.